Thursday, May 16, 2013

One last goodbye

I never thought that I would devote a blog post to my dog,
but I also never knew that it would hurt this much.

Pets suck. They make you fall in love with them. They cuddle
with you. They give you unexpected kisses. They wag their tails. They run
around and have fun.

Then they get old. They still get excited when you walk in
the door; it’s just a little slower.
Then they get even older, and that excitement turns into a simple head lift as their
tired body is lying down.

And then they get to the point where you can tell they are
suffering. And you know you have to take them to the vet, but you don’t want to
because you know what the outcome is going to be. And every part of your body wants you to be
selfish and make them stay with you longer… just one more day. But you know you
can’t. You know what’s best.

And that sucks.

Around 10:00am Wednesday the 15th, I had to say
goodbye to my puppy one last time. I had to squeeze him one last time. I had to
give him a kiss one last time.

This dog… the dog that has been with me through my awkward
Jr. High years. The one who was there throughout high school. The one who
welcomed me back from Sweden. The one who I got to see for just one more day
when I came back from college.

This dog has managed to break my heart.

I knew this day was coming, and I tried to prepare myself.
As I was making the 9 hour car trip back home on Tuesday, I knew it most likely
would happen this summer… I thought that I wanted him to pass before I got
home. I knew how hard it would be for me to have to say goodbye to him, knowing
it would be my last time. But now that his time has actually come, I am so
thankful that I got one more night with him, and that I got to hold him one
more time.

I just read this again and it made me sad all over. It is a wonderful tribute to Echo. He was your faithful dog and he loved you. I will miss him when you come to visit. He won't come running into the house to greet Grandpa and I. He isn't suffering now and is running all over Dog heaven. We don't know where that is, but Echo is happy and well. God bless you Corrie. We love you very much and miss you.